Euthenasia: Human Rights and Universal Declaration Essay

Imagine, that you are in the final stages of terminal Multiple Sclerosis. You are dying slowly. You know death is coming soon and there is no way to avoid it. Death is not what you are afraid of. You are afraid of dying by choking on your own saliva while you are conscious; you have no doubt this will happen. You know you will die a lingering and excruciating death. That is your fear, that is your every thought, every minute, every day. That is suffering, that is torture.

In cases such as this, should euthanasia be an option? Is euthanasia sometimes a humane act or is it always wrong? Throughout this essay, there will be proof to why euthanasia should become legal in Canada. With this there will be examples of real people and how how Canada’s euthanasia laws burdened their life in some of the worst ways possible. Furthermore Canada’s laws will be directly related to that of the Universal Declaration Of Human Rights.

These are only a few of the many ideas supporting the legalization of Euthanasia in Canada.
We would never let our pets suffer a painful and lingering death. We not only have the right but also have the moral obligation to euthanize our beloved pets to relieve them from excruciating suffering and pain. Why are we not morally obligated to provide the same option for ourselves and our loved ones who subjected to intolerable suffering and who have no quality of life?

Now, in no way is an animals life as important as a humans, but this is an example of the moral obligation a caretaker is obliged to fulfill. Does the caretaker of a child have the same obligations? Does the parent, or guardian, have the right to decide the death of the child? After all the parent(s) are legally responsible for their child so should they not have the responsibility to prevent their child from extreme suffering? Furthermore, should this also apply to someone if they wish to take their own life to prevent extreme suffering?

Around the world there was recognised the need for an explicit set of Human rights; rules that everyone should and generally does live by. Consequently there are various sets of human rights that. The United Nations set of Human Rights is known as the Universal Declaration Of Human Rights. Canada’s set of Human Rights is known as Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Europe’s is known as “European Convention on Human Rights”. Interestingly, everyone of these addresses the prohibition of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 5 of Universal Declaration Of Human Rights states:
“No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
Section 12 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms states:
“Everyone has the right not to be subjected to any cruel and unusual treatment or punishment.”
Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights states:
“ No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

Everyone of these rights recognises that humans have the right not to be subjected to excessive suffering; even as punishment for a serious CRIME. Now if some innocent person is dying slowly of an extremely painful disease, is this not cruel, inhuman or degrading suffering? If we cannot allow cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment for the most heinous of crimes, how can we allow cruel, inhuman or degrading suffering to occur for an innocent person. Are we not being completely uncompassionate to allow these people to undergo excessive suffering?

Another moral value that is accepted worldwide is that humans have the right to dignity. Article 1 of the Universal Declaration Of Human Rights states “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” This means that everyone has the right to a quality of being worthy of honor or respect. A person who is slowly dying of terminal Multiple Sclerosis has no dignity as they are approaching death.

Core: Human Rights
The nature and development of human rights
The definition of human rights
The Preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted by the General Assembly of the UN in 1948, sets out the fundamental purpose for recognising human rights. It states that: ‘recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world’.
The precise nature of human rights, however…

The Ineffectiveness of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Prior to World War II inequality throughout the world was an apparent problem, so in order to fix it, the United Nations created the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In January 1946, the first meeting about the document was held, and its first concerns were to figure out how it would be created. Immediate problems arose when different nations wanted people to have different rights, like how communists wanted limited freedom…

Human rights are universally understood as the basic rights and freedoms to which every person is entitled to, simply because she or he is a human being. Ideas about human rights have evolved over many centuries. But they achieved strong international support following the Holocaust and World War II. To protect future generations from a repeat of these horrors, the United Nations implemented the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. For the first time, the Universal Declaration set out…

to Human Rights
&
Article: “To Beat Back Poverty, Pay the Poor”
Summary
Main Characteristics of Human Rights
Some main characteristics of human rights are that the rights are made up especially with the interest of the people in mind. Human rights are different for each group of individuals. The people are entitled to make judgments and decisions they feel deemed necessary for the community. The chapter simply states that for every different geological culture, the human rights…

Human Rights supersede cultural relativism!
As an educated civilization we have, an ethical obligation to intervene on behalf of the girls and women subjugated to the cultural practice of female genital mutilation (FGM).
This argument against female circumcision (FMG) will show that the women and children who undergo this heinous act of cruelty have no choice in the matter, and are generally uneducated in the complications caused by this ritual practice. This essay will demonstrate that basic…

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, G.A. res. 217A (III), U.N. Doc A/810 at
71 (1948).
PREAMBLE
Whereas
recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all
members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,
Whereas
disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts wh
ich have
outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall
enjoy freedom of speech and…

The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies, then at war with Great Britain, regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. John Adams had put forth a resolution earlier in the year, making a subsequent formal declaration inevitable. A committee was assembled to draft the formal declaration, to be ready when congress voted on independence. Adams persuaded…

Human Rights and Humanitarian Intervention:
An international regime = set of principles, norms, rules and decision-making procedures that states and other international actors accept as authoritative in an issue- area.
The Charter of the United Nations, signed in San Francisco on 26 June 1945, promoted respect for human rights as one of the principal objectives. It also created a commission on Human Rights.
The commission was drafting the ‘Universal Declaration of Human Rights’ – list of…

In the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
almost every aspect of human life is
addressed. They range from torture to slavery and beyond to what exactly freedom is. All around
the world, these same rights apply to every human being on earth. In rural countries, and even in
wealthy and thriving countries, human rights are violated everyday. The law takes over and these
simple rights thats are promised and given to us from the moment we are born are taken away
just like that. The human rights were put in place to protect us…

Words 626 - Pages 3

* Test names and other trademarks are the property of the respective trademark holders. None of the trademark holders are affiliated with this website.